SQUASH

Now that Jane Baird is eating well, I'm trying to get her eating healthy foods. I'm always running out of ideas though. I like to actually cook for her; I try to avoid canned and frozen items as much as possible, but I always have a can of Spaghetti O's in the pantry and chicken nuggets in the freezer for backup. She's not really a picky eater, but just has issues with texture and needs things than can be easily chewed and that will go down easy. Neither Alan nor I like squash, but Jane Baird seemed to like it as a baby food, so I thought today would be a great day to see if she would eat it again in solid form. My in-laws grow it so they gave us some to try... First I peeled it...I'm sure that squash isn't supposed to be peeled (I have no clue b/c I've never made it), but I wanted it to be as tender as possible without having to cook out all of the nutrients. Then I diced it into small peices Then sautéed it in a tiny drop of Olive oil and a tiny pinch of salt. I tossed it around in the pan a few times and then put a lid on it for a few minutes to steam it a little. Then I realized that I should have seeded it b/c Jane Baird has a little bit of diverticula of the esophagus and didn't know if those little seeds would get caught. So my next step was to remove all of the seeds with a fork! We'll see how she likes it when she wakes up from her nap. She is also having cantaloupe (which might very well be her favorite fruit right now), strawberries, and some risotto that I am currently making :) Well, it turns out that she didn't really care for the squash. She ate it, but shivered with every bite. I gave her a break from it today, but we are going to try it again tomorrow. I'm determined to get her to enjoy a variety of vegetables (unlike me!).